Late McCaw try gives All Blacks victory

Skipper Richie McCaw has marked his 140th appearance for New Zealand with a late try to deliver a 27-20 victory over arch-foes South Africa.

The All Blacks flanker won a line-out close to the Springboks line and brushed off scrum-half Ruan Pienaar to cross six minutes before time in Saturday’s Rugby Championship second round Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Debutant fly-half Lima Sopoaga converted and kicked a last-minute penalty to give New Zealand a sixth victory in their past seven clashes with South Africa.

The match was a carbon copy of the loss last weekend in Australia for the Springboks as they led for most of the 80 minutes only to concede a late try.

South Africa were left ruing a 10-minute second-half spell when they had a numerical advantage after replacement lock Sam Whitelock was sin-binned but failed to score.

It was an absorbing clash between the world number one-ranked All Blacks and second-ranked Springboks and indicated why they are among the favourites for the Rugby World Cup in England from mid-September.

New Zealand are famed for scoring late in the opening half and they did it again to leave the teams level at 10-10 after 40 exciting, fast-paced minutes on a chilly evening.

A turnover, a clever inside pass from centre Ma’a Nonu, and a break by Sopoaga set up right winger Ben Smith to score after 40 minutes.

Sopaga, who opened the scoring with a close-range third-minute penalty awarded for a Springbok going off his feet at a ruck, converted a simple kick.

The first-half highlight for South Africa came on 10 minutes when a turnover triggered a try by full-back Willie le Roux.